The CSI5* 1.60m Defender Grand Prix of Switzerland didn't need a jump-off to crown Martin Fuchs and Commissar Pezi as the winners of this thrilling Olympic Games Qualifier! The local pair was the only rider and horse combination to manage a clear round.
Aboard the eleven years old gelding by Commissario, Fuchs navigated the 1.60m high jumps without a fault and crossed the finish line in a time of 74,61s. The time allowed in the first round, being 78 seconds, threw a spanner in the works of Abdulrahman Alrajhi (KSA) and Romain Duguet (SUI). Only 30 hundredths of a second kept Alrajhi and Ventago (Van Helsing) from going clear. With the Elvis ter Putte son, Hunger Games du Champ du Bois, the home crowd saw Duguet finishing exactly half a second too late to keep the zero on the board.
A fast round but then again also a rail on the ground kept Timo Heiniger (SUI) and Don (Don Diarado) in fourth place. In fifth was Pedro Junqueira Muylaert (BRA) with Quax 76 (Quo Vados).
F. ©: Fotografie Stuppia - CSIO St Gallen